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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French phrase of the day: Bel et bien

Spruce up your conversations with this handy bit of alliteration.

Published: 9 August 2021 14:18 CEST
French phrase of the day: Bel et bien
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why do I need to know bel et bien?

Because it’s useful for quelling rumours.

What does it mean?

Bel et bien is often translated as “well and truly”, since it can be used to add emphasis to a declaration, similar to the word vraiment (really).

For example, in the sentence Ella a bel et bien mérité sa médaille d’or (She totally deserved her gold medal). The word bien can be used in this way on its own, too, as in Ce train va bien jusqu’à Paris ? (Is this train definitely going to Paris?)

However, another possible translation is “in fact”, because it often has a slightly different function, which is to show that something is indeed the case, even though certain people had doubts.

As the online French dictionary Orthodidacte writes, “It is often used to re-establish the truth about something, or to confirm the truth of something.”

Take, for example, this tweet from beIN SPORTS regarding Lionel Messi’s decision to find a new club for the 2021-22 season. “Lionel Messi voulait bel et bien rester au FC Barcelone cette saison !” means “Lionel Messi did in fact want to stay at FC Barcelona this season!”

They used bel et bien because the footballer himself had just announced that he had originally hoped to stay in Barcelona, so the purpose of the phrase is to show that the debate is over, and those who believed he wanted to stay had been proven right.

Taking the phrase apart, the bien is easy to translate – it means “well”. The bel is the masculine form of the adjective beau when it is followed by a word which begins with a vowel (such as the phrase bel appartement – beautiful apartment). In this case bel can be translated as “good”, so the phrase literally means “good and well”, a similar repetition to the English “well and truly”.

Use it like this

L’été a bel et bien commencé – Summer has well and truly begun

Le concert aura bel et bien lieu malgré la pluie – The concert will take place after all, despite the rain

Ils vont bel et bien se marier – They are in fact going to get married

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For members

FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: Une pipelette

This French word describe your neighbour who loves to get into a long discussion as you are trying to walk out the door.

Published: 24 April 2024 12:25 CEST
French Word of the Day: Une pipelette

Why do I need to know une pipelette?

Because you might have a chatty friend who could be described this way.

What does it mean?

Une pipelette – roughly pronounced oon peep-let – is an old-fashioned colloquial French term to describe a ‘chatterbox’ or someone who never stops talking.

Over time, it has evolved to describe people who love to gossip. 

While the term is a bit outdated now (particularly as it’s usually only applied to women), but you will still hear older French people use it from time to time. 

The word itself comes from the French novel Les mysères de Paris, by Eugène Sue and published in 1842. The story takes place in 19th century Paris, and one of the characters is named Madame Pipelet, who is very talkative and works as a concierge. 

Her name itself is a callback to the verb piper which now means to imitate the sound of a bird (in the same way ‘peep’ does in English), but it historically has also been used as a synonym for parler (to speak).

A more common way to describe a talkative person is bavard.

Use it like this

Ma petite-fille est un véritable pipelette. Elle adore me raconter les histoires de ses amis à l’école. – My granddaughter is such a chatterbox. She loves to tell me about all her friends at school.

Ça va être une longue soirée avec Sarah. C’est une vraie pipelette et elle voudra parler de tout le monde au travail. – It’s going to be a long night with Sarah. She is a real gossip and she’ll want to talk about everyone at work.

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